Malta officially ended its practice of automatic detention for migrants in 2015 following an outcry by advocacy groups and an EU court ruling that deemed it a violation of human rights. The country’s current policies mandate that arrivals be transferred to “Initial Reception Centers” (IRCs) where they undergo health screenings and age assessments before being released into what are called “open centers,” where migrants can come and go as they please, but outsiders are restricted from entering. Conditions in both types of facilities have been widely condemned as deplorable by rights groups.

People on the move and asylum seekers are only supposed to be kept in the closed IRC facilities for a maximum of 14 days. However, in reality, many migrants have reported being held for several months.

(source from Aug 13, 2019)

Ħal Far on the southern side of Malta = Maltese for Rat’s Town

Dwelling, industrial and closed military area, without basic services as shops for food, bars or any other ‘urban’ functions

2×27 rows of shipping containers

verticaly mounted on the two floors forming the temporary housing neighbourhood

one side of the container’s neighbourhood is facing the green field

we accessed the green field through a torn metal fence

at the end of the green field is the stone or concrete wall of the same hight as the shipping container = 2.59

this contninous wall gives an ilussion of the architectural hybrid of permanent and temporary built environment

…

walking toward the controlled entrance of the settlment, looking through the burned reception house and the iron fence

image is of the solid atmosphere of the people on the move who get stuck in time and space